Firm secures Rio Grande Valley border wall contract

Two government agencies said Southwest Valley Constructors Co. has secured a contract to build 15 miles of new Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector border wall.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) officials announced the contract, valued at $179,580,000, includes a 30-foot tall steel bollard wall, all-weather roads, lighting, enforcement cameras and other related technology to create a complete enforcement zone. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2020, pending availability of real estate, in locations where no barriers currently exist.

The scope of work involves four non-contiguous segments, officials said, connecting to other new border wall segments within Roma, Rio Grande City, Escobares, La Grulla, and the census designated place of Salineño, Texas.

Authorities indicated the RGV is the nation’s busiest Sector, accounting for approximately 25 percent of the illegal alien apprehensions while ranking first in seized cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana along the southwest border.

The majority of the zone’s activity is occurring in areas where RGV has limited infrastructure, access and mobility, and technology.

Such projects improve the RGV Sector’s ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings, in addition to the drug and human smuggling activities of transnational criminal organizations.